The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Sunday said it was not joining the Union Cabinet for the time being but was solidly behind the United Progressive Alliance government.

Accusing BJP of digging up decades old cases against JMM chief Shibu Soren, who has quit the Union Cabinet, party leader and Rajya Sabha member Stephen Marandi told reporters: ''We are not thinking of any ministerial berth...We are thinking of taking the battle to the BJP camp for its logical conclusion.''

Soren had resigned yesterday on the directions of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Asked when the "missing" Soren would "surface", Marandi said, "He is waiting for the high  court verdict. We expect a verdict tomorrow and as soon as it comes Soren would be before you."

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To another query as to why he has "disappeared" for nearly a week, he said, "Guruji (Soren) wanted to scuttle NDA's plan for an unrest in the state. The Arjun Munda government had sent a police team to New Delhi to arrest our leader which would have instantly sparked off violence and bloodshed back home."

Marandi charged the state government with digging up decades-old cases that had link to the statehood movement to extract a political mileage after the drubbing it had received in the Lok Sabha polls.

''We will not fall in the confrontation net designed by the BJP. Instead of calling bandhs, we will drum up public opinion against the sinister designs of the NDA through peaceful and democratic means.''

Saying that the UPA alliance, comprising the Congress,RJD, JMM and Left parties in Jharkhand, had scared the saffron party in the run-up to the Assembly polls, Marandi alleged that the NDA government intended to create a Gujarat-like situation by stoking the 1975 Chirrudih massacre case.

''The arrest warrants were served only after Home Minister Shivraj Patil had given a clean chit after the BJP in the Rajya Sabha raised the issue,'' the JMM leader said charging the Jharkhand government with political conspiracy.

Soren was a movement leader and it was quite natural that cases would be filed against him like many others in the state, he said and doubted the motive behind dropping some cases while rejecting Soren's.

''The case was rejected to use it as a weapon in  future,'' he claimed.

He said the party would prepare a peaceful protest programme and also asked its activists to restrain themselves.